International BusinessGovt not to import rice as of now, says Sharma
India will not import rice as it has adequate stocks of the grain, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said today after a meeting of the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on food.
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“We are not importing rice. We have adequate stocks as of now,” Anand Sharma told reporters after a meeting of a panel of ministers. Earlier this week, both Sharma and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said the country was exploring possibilities of rice import.
The worst monsoon in more than three decades severly hit the kharif rice crop. India’s kharif rice output is projected to fall nearly 18 per cent (or 15.13 million tonnes) to 69.45 million tonnes, according to the first advanced estimates of the agriculture ministry. The output last year stood at 84.58 million tonnes.
As on November 1, the government pool had rice stocks of 21.70 million tonnes. The government is targeting procurement of 26 million tonnes in the current marketing season (October-September). The procurement in the last season was at a record 33.6 million tonnes. “We were not in favour of rice imports as there was sufficient carryover stock from last year’s record procurement,” said an official at the Food Corporation.